Legendary Choreographer, Donald McKayle Comes to Montclair State

Photo: Mike Peters

Donald McKayle

Montclair State University dance students were recently
treated to an experience-of-a-lifetime as legendary choreographer, dancer, and
educator Donald McKayle came to the campus to spend three days working with the
students as they rehearsed his classic work, Games in preparation for its performance in Danceworks 2010 taking
place in April.

The creator of masterpieces of choreography, considered by
many to be modern dance classics, McKayle is one of the most influential
choreographers of the postwar era. Currently a professor of dance at the
University of California at Irvine, he has also taught at Bennington College
and the Juilliard School. His extensive list of honors and awards include a
Tony Award and multiple Tony nominations, an Outer Critics Circle Award, the
NAACP Image Award, and recognition as a Master of African American
Choreography, among others.

Since his professional debut in 1948, McKayle has
choreographed more than seventy works for dance companies around the world
including Games, Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder, and District
Storyville, as well as Broadway productions such as Golden Boy, Raisin, Dr. Jazz, and Sophisticated Ladies. His work in cinema and television includes
choreography for films such as The Great
White Hope, Charlie and the Angel,
and Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks,
and for television shows ranging from The
Oscar Presentations to the Ed
Sullivan Show.

“To have an artist of the stature of Donald McKayle come to
Montclair State and work with our students was just a fantastic opportunity for
them,” said Professor Lori Katterhenry, coordinator of the University’s Dance
Program. “They not only benefited from being coached by the creator of the very
work they are rehearsing, but they were also able to learn from, interact with,
and be inspired by a true legend in the arts.”

Thanks to the involvement of the Department of Broadcasting with support from
the College of the Arts Office of Education and Community Outreach, and student
filmmakers from the College of the Arts’ Filmmaking Program, the current group
of dance students will not be the only ones to benefit from the choreographer’s
visit. Between the Broadcasting and Filmmaking contingents, the entire
three-day visit including a one-hour interview conducted by Professor Neil
Baldwin was documented. The resulting high-definition footage will be available for
future students to view and study, giving them the opportunity to also share in
the experience.

In fact, plans are in place to make the footage available to
even more people. “Our intent is to donate the interview and selected footage
from the three days of rehearsals to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New
York Public Library where it will be accessible to future generations of dance aficionados
and scholars,” said Baldwin. “So in essence, Montclair State is making a
permanent contribution to our cultural patrimony by this definitive
documentation of a 59-year-old classic of American dance theatre.”